Yale Environment 360 Magazine Launches Online
Yale Environment 360, a new online magazine dedicated to covering the global environment, is launching today at http://e360.yale.edu. Edited by Roger Cohn, the former editor of Mother Jones and Audubon magazines, Yale Environment 360 aims to become one of the leading Web sites for commentary and reporting on the crucial environmental issues of the day.
The magazine’s inaugural edition features articles by noted environmental advocate and author, Bill McKibben; New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert; climate scientist Richard C.J. Somerville; marine biologist and author Carl Safina; British journalist Fred Pearce; and many other writers and thinkers. The first issue contains reports, analysis, and Op-Ed-style pieces on such issues as climate change, the concept of “clean coal,” the impact of water shortages on global food supplies, and the challenge of crafting an innovative energy policy in the United States. E360’s initial postings also showcase reporting from China, the Amazon, and Russia and include a thought-provoking interview with Nobel Prize winner Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Cohn said that Yale Environment 360 will feature authoritative opinion, analysis and in-depth reporting and will post original articles by leading journalists, scientists, environmentalists, green entrepreneurs and policy makers from around the world. The site will also provide a forum for discussing global environmental issues, as well as varied multimedia.
Yale Environment 360 is a publication of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and Yale University and is supported by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
“Yale is our home base,” said Cohn, “but Yale Environment 360 will be looking out at the world and examining the major environmental issues of the day.”
According to Gus Speth, dean of Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the new Web site is coming online “at a moment of unprecedented concern about environmental issues, sparked in large measure by mounting evidence of the effects of climate change.” That intensifying interest, coupled with the virtual nature of Yale Environment 360, Speth noted, has created an opportunity to publish a site that will appeal to a wide international audience of policy makers, scientists, journalists, environmental activists and general readers.
“As a leader in environmental research and education, as well as sustainable operations, Yale is pleased to be the home of an important new and open source of reporting, analysis and debate on global environmental issues,” said Yale President Richard C. Levin. “In founding Yale Environment 360, the University hopes to repeat its success with YaleGlobal, an online journal devoted to exploring globalization. In the six years since its launch, YaleGlobal has had 18 million page views and become one of the most highly respected sources of opinion concerning global affairs.”
Cohn comes to Yale Environment 360 from a distinguished journalism career, much of it focused on the environment. As editor-in-chief of Mother Jones, from 1999 to 2005, he revitalized the magazine, winning the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Prior to that, he was executive editor of Audubon, helping lead the magazine during a period when it became nationally known for its cutting-edge environmental reporting. Cohn previously was a staff writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he served as one of the nation’s first environmental reporters.
Media Contact
Tom Conroy: tom.conroy@yale.edu, 203-432-1345